Two civilians killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast

Two civilians killed in PKK attack in Turkey’s southeast

DİYARBAKIR / ŞIRNAK

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Two civilians were killed on Aug. 29 in an attack staged by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Çınar district of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Doğan News Agency has reported.

The militants detonated a hand-made explosive placed on the Diyarbakır-Batman highway during the passing of two armored military vehicles at around 12.30 p.m.

The vehicles were reportedly being dispatched to the southern province of Siirt from the capital Ankara.The two armored vehicles overturned to the roadside due to the explosion.

A number of health teams were immediately dispatched to the scene, but two personnel from the contractor company who had been inside the vehicles died in the attack.

The explosion created a three-meter-deep hole on the road and the Diyarbakır-Batman highway was briefly closed to traffic following the attack.

During initial inspections, security forces determined a second bomb set-up just five meters away from the scene where the two civilians were killed. Bomb disposal experts were called to the scene to defuse the set-up.

Separately, PKK militants killed another civilian in the Lice district late on Aug. 28, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The militants reportedly stopped a car driven by a man identified as Ramazan Mula in the Saydamlı neighborhood. They later tied the man to a tree and shot him before setting the vehicle alight.

Locals informed security officials of the incident and Mula’s body was transferred to hospital for an autopsy.

An operation was launched to apprehend the militants.

The car reportedly belonged to Mula’s brother, who had been working as a watchman in the Yenişehir district.

Meanwhile, two PKK militants were “neutralized” and another six surrendered to security forces in the Silopi district of the southeastern province of Şırnak during an operation late on Aug. 28, the local governor’s office stated.

The Şırnak Govenor’s Office said in a statement that security forces engaged in an armed clash with a group of PKK militants in a rural area near the village of Kösreli, adding that two PKK militants were “neutralized” in the clash.

In another statement, the governor’s office stated that six PKK militants surrendered to security forces near in the Habur border gate and legal proceedings against them have been launched.

Earlier on Aug. 29, 10 people were detained for allegedly engaging in PKK propaganda on social media in the southern province of Mersin.

The chief public prosecutor’s office had issued a detention warrant for 15 people in the province. Ten of the suspects were later detained in police raids while the other five remain at large.

Police also seized a number of organizational documents, digital equipment, 25 kilograms of cannabis and 37 cartridges during searches.

In the neighboring province of Adana, another eight suspects were detained early on Aug. 29 over alleged links to the PKK and for engaging in terror propaganda on social media.